Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the game.

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  • NYMets2016
    Rookie
    • Apr 2016
    • 109

    #1

    Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the game.

    So I put the game onto practice mode on legend, put it on maxed out pitch speed sliders, had it on the fastest frame rate setting.

    Had Emmanuel Clase pitch on the Indians and did not swing and recorded the video using the PS share button ( which downgrades down to 30fps which could slightly effect the reading ).

    I had him throw 4sfb and cutters down the middle.

    A 101mph cutter took 12 frames from release point to the plate. Which at a 30fps video is 0.4 seconds ( 400 milliseconds ).

    A 100mph 4sfb took 13 frames from release point to the plate. Which on a 30fps video is 0.4333 seconds ( 433 milliseconds ).

    A 91mph slider took 14 frames from release point to the plate. 466 milliseconds.


    Now because some people think sinkers were glitched as being too fast I tried out Synderrgaard's sinker.


    His 99mph sinker took 13 frames to reach the plate. About 433 milliseconds.

    His 97mph sinker took 13 frames to reach the plate. Again about 433 milliseconds.


    Now the frames are not 100% accurate due to two facts.

    One is that like I said the frame rate got down graded from 60fps to 30fps. This means that sometimes when watching the video, the pitcher will release the ball in between the frame or the ball will come to the plate in between the frame.

    This means that the 97mph and 99mph pitch that both came in at 13 frames, might have actually been one at 25 frames and one at 26 frames when played at 60fps.


    This means that legend, on maxed out pitch speed sliders is pretty close to real life pitch speeds and that sinkers are not faster than any other pitch in the game ( atleast in offline play ).
  • knucklecutter
    Pro
    • Mar 2020
    • 608

    #2
    Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

    In real life 100mph at 55 feet of travel is .37 of a second and 75mph is .5 of a second.
    YouTube: MLB The Show 21 Atlanta Braves Franchise

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    • itsmb8
      MVP
      • May 2011
      • 3361

      #3
      Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

      This is exactly why this game needs to come to PC. Playing this on 120-150 fps would be AMAZING for trying to replicate IRL pitch speeds. Not to mention the ability to play on a widescreen display.
      PSN / Xbox GT - BLUEnYELLOW28

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      • knucklecutter
        Pro
        • Mar 2020
        • 608

        #4
        Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

        Originally posted by knucklecutter
        In real life 100mph at 55 feet of travel is .37 of a second and 75mph is .5 of a second.

        According to the OP a 100mph pitch in the game takes .43 of a second. In real life that would be 87 mph.
        YouTube: MLB The Show 21 Atlanta Braves Franchise

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        • NYMets2016
          Rookie
          • Apr 2016
          • 109

          #5
          Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

          Originally posted by knucklecutter
          According to the OP a 100mph pitch in the game takes .43 of a second. In real life that would be 87 mph.
          Please keep in mind that this is with a downgrade of frame rate and that some times the pitcher's release is in between frames so it's more like 12.5 frames and 416 milliseconds which is probably closer to 91 or 92mph.

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          • knucklecutter
            Pro
            • Mar 2020
            • 608

            #6
            Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

            Originally posted by NYMets2016
            Please keep in mind that this is with a downgrade of frame rate and that some times the pitcher's release is in between frames so it's more like 12.5 frames and 416 milliseconds which is probably closer to 91 or 92mph.

            Oh, I understand...


            .41 of a second would be 91.4mph
            YouTube: MLB The Show 21 Atlanta Braves Franchise

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            • canes21
              Hall Of Fame
              • Sep 2008
              • 22909

              #7
              Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

              I applaud OP for his efforts, and I don't mean to ask this to downplay any of his research, but are there any other methods besides counting frames that could feasibly be done to measure the pitch speeds? I know I asked this in the last pitch speeds thread that showed the umpire camera, but I'm trying to brainstorm and see if there are any ways to measure the pitch speeds so we can get our information to become even more accurate.

              I guess one method to be more accurate would be to measure the frames through a stream that is more than 30fps. I'm not sure if the PS4 outputs streams to YouTube and Twitch at higher rates than 30, but I imagine there are users here with capture cards that could potentially be more accurate with their measurements.

              It would be really interesting to nail these speeds down because I am all about getting them as accurate as possible from a sliders standpoint. Obviously going 10 on the speed slider will get you closest to a real life fastball speed in game, but would it ultimately be more accurate to have breaking pitches at 8 out of 10? That is the kind of question these tests could answer for us.
              “No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.”


              ― Plato

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              • bcruise
                Hall Of Fame
                • Mar 2004
                • 23274

                #8
                Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

                Interesting read. On a bit of a tangent, I had a thought about why people perceive sinkers as being faster than they actually are. It has to do with their movement - at least for me, that little rise they have before dropping is enough to make me flinch for just a split second and not register that the ball is actually coming in really fast and not slow. Most of the time, that little hesitation is enough to turn an early swing into a late one, and a well-timed one to miss the ball entirely.

                I just have to train myself to think it's a fastball and not be fooled by that little bit of movement - and it's not easy to do. It's even more important in the case of outliers whose sinkers actually ARE as fast as their fastball.

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                • knucklecutter
                  Pro
                  • Mar 2020
                  • 608

                  #9
                  Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

                  Having offspeed pitches at a lower slider number than fastballs can only do two things.

                  1. It will make the offspeed pitches easier to sit on because they will be going that much slower.

                  2. It will make hitting more difficult because it will throw off your personal muscle memory timing.


                  Feet per second is feet per second. It doesn't matter if the ball is going straight or if it has a massive curve. The closest we can get to a true experience is legend difficulty with max speeds.
                  YouTube: MLB The Show 21 Atlanta Braves Franchise

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                  • NYMets2016
                    Rookie
                    • Apr 2016
                    • 109

                    #10
                    Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

                    Here is the proof.

                    One issue is that I tried to upconvert back to 60FPS, but that just creates a dummy frame. To truly tell minor differences in speed and a couple MPH difference and be 100% accurate someone would need a capture card to get the game at 60FPS when testing this.




                    Last edited by NYMets2016; 04-14-2020, 07:15 PM.

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                    • NYMets2016
                      Rookie
                      • Apr 2016
                      • 109

                      #11
                      Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

                      Here is a comparison to Pro Yakyuu Spirits ( Japanese Baseball Game ) on a 95mph fastball.



                      Last edited by NYMets2016; 04-14-2020, 07:39 PM.

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                      • NYMets2016
                        Rookie
                        • Apr 2016
                        • 109

                        #12
                        Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

                        Originally posted by knucklecutter
                        Oh, I understand...


                        .41 of a second would be 91.4mph
                        Just another thing that I thought of, in real life pitch speeds are measured out of the hand or close to out of the hand. Those velocities are higher than the pitch speed of when the ball actually approaches the catcher's glove. The ball does not maintain the same consistent speed all throughout the duration of the pitch.

                        Thus what is a fastball that is 100mph on a radar gun or on pitch f/x could actually be approaching 90 or 95 mph by the time it gets to the glove.

                        So the amount of time from pitcher's release to the plate is going to be slightly slower than that. Thus .41 seconds might be more equivalent to a 95mph fastball out of the pitcher's hand.

                        This could mean that the game on legend mode with maxed out sliders is about 5mph slower than real life.


                        If the 101mph cutter takes 400ms to reach the plate. That is equivalent to if the pitch was 93.75 mph in real life if it was released at 55 feet away. When we factor in that pitch f/x is at the highest velocity out of or close to out of the hand. That 93.75 mph might have been about 97 mph at first and than by the time it approached the plate slowed down to about 90 mph and the amount of total time it traveled was 93.75 on average.
                        Last edited by NYMets2016; 04-14-2020, 10:15 PM.

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                        • NYMets2016
                          Rookie
                          • Apr 2016
                          • 109

                          #13
                          Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

                          Originally posted by itsmb8
                          This is exactly why this game needs to come to PC. Playing this on 120-150 fps would be AMAZING for trying to replicate IRL pitch speeds. Not to mention the ability to play on a widescreen display.
                          This is very true.

                          While doing this testing I came to a realization.

                          Since I am only able to use 30fps video. The difference between a fast fastball and an average fastball is literally only one or two frames. They don't have much room to work with in that case to make obvious differences between the pitches of just a few mph differential.


                          The more frames the game's graphics can draw in a second the smoother the ball and animations will look, the more realistic the movement and speed will be and the better ability you will have to read even minor differentials in speeds.

                          If you go by frames, at 30fps you can only have 12frames for a fast fastball and 13 for an average one. At 60fps you can have 24 to 27. At 120fps you can have a variance of 48 to 54. That is a big differential in terms of MS in comparison.

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                          • HozAndMoose
                            MVP
                            • Mar 2013
                            • 3614

                            #14
                            Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

                            Here are a couple of 60fps recordings. Unfortunately there are some duplicate frames so I would assume the game is running just a bit slower than 60fps. Can download at the top right.

                            Chapman at 102 - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mT...CMMJaJlHsuqvPS

                            Cole at 98-99 - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FR...6aQ76Fh6m7yruc

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                            • NYMets2016
                              Rookie
                              • Apr 2016
                              • 109

                              #15
                              Re: Was bored and did some testing of how fast a 100mph fastball really is in the gam

                              Originally posted by HozAndMoose
                              Here are a couple of 60fps recordings. Unfortunately there are some duplicate frames so I would assume the game is running just a bit slower than 60fps. Can download at the top right.

                              Chapman at 102 - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mT...CMMJaJlHsuqvPS

                              Cole at 98-99 - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FR...6aQ76Fh6m7yruc
                              Is this at legend, max pitch speeds? I will test it out.

                              Just tested, Chapman's 102 mph fastball takes about 24 frames from release to the plate which is exactly 400ms.

                              A ball released from 55 feet away ( average MLB release point ) that took 400ms to reach the plate would be traveling 93.75 mph in real life.

                              Remember that in real life pitches lose about 8mph of velocity from release to the plate. So a fastball that started off at 93.75 could be going potentially about 85 mph by the time it reaches the glove so in reality it would take longer than the 400 milliseconds.


                              If we say that 4mph less than the radar gun reading is the median speed. ( Which is average when taking into time the amount of time it hits the gun ) A pitch that was released 55 feet away and traveled on average 97.5 mph ( the way through ) would take 400ms to hit the plate.

                              So Chapman's 102 mph in game is comparable to 97.5 mph in real life.

                              This means that on legend mode with maxed out sliders, the ball travels about 5 to 6 mph slower than real life.



                              Cole's 98mph fastball takes about 25 frames from release to plate. That is 416 milliseconds. A fastball would need to travel on average 90 mph to hit that speed in real life. A fastball that averaged 90mph would probably start off at 94mph out of the hand and drop down to 86 by the time it hit the plate. So Cole's 98mph fastball in the game is comparable to a 94mph fastball in real life.
                              Last edited by NYMets2016; 04-14-2020, 11:36 PM.

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